Hopeless Distraction
by AlexaClyne
Summary: Paperwork was the least of Ishida Uryu's problems. As a Student Council President, he had loads of stuff to do. Not quite enough to distract him from his feelings for Inoue-san though. PostIshiHime one-shot.


**Summary: **Paperwork was the least of Ishida Uryu's problems. As a Student Council President, he had loads of stuff to do. Not quite enough to distract him from his feelings for Inoue-san though. IshiHime one-shot.  
**Rating:** T  
**Timeline: **Post Arrancar arc. Just around the Timeskip.  
**Author's Note:** Rewrote most of the content (as of 04-16-2013). The mistakes I committed are ghastly and I am deeply embarrassed by them.

Hopefully it's better now. My grammar improved immensely, but I can't guarantee it's flawless. Do point out my wrongs. I'd appreciate it a lot. If IshiHime isn't your cup of tea, then you may leave.

Text in italic bold are Ishida's conscience/inner self/something like that.

Written for an IshiHime contest at the livejournal community Bleachness.

**Disclaimer:** "I DON'T OWN ANYTHINGGGGGG." Shouted the author on top of the mountain.

Having to deal with Hollows, paper work, maintaining peace and order which includes kicking the backside of some delinquents who caused enough trouble within school grounds, Ishida Uryu sure got his hands full. He clasped his hands and rested his head on them, taking a break from doing the remaining paper work in the student council office. All the other student council members already left, with only a handful of students left in the whole school premises. He's been stressed a lot more than he ever been.

**_Well, you brought yourself into this mess. Just whose idea was it? Trying to get busy enough just to distract yourself?_**

He let out a sigh and continued his work under the warm light from the setting sun. He didn't even bother to turn on the lights. A knock came to the door.  
"Ishida-kun? Are you in? May I come in?" A female voice came from the other side of the door. Ishida already recognized who it was, even when she was still walking down the hall. The familiar reiatsu pattern and the uplifting footsteps in prompt with her cheery humming of her self-proclaimed theme song were obvious. He can already imagine how the woman looked like behind the door. Every detail of her being was already stamped in his mind.

_**No, I should have let it go already.**_

"The door is not locked." Was all he can say, trying to sound as casual as possible. He kept his eyes on the documents in his hand. He heard the door open, looked up and took a glance upon the school's idol. Orihime returned the eye contact, putting on a casual face. Her usual smile. Oh how he missed that smile. Not that he haven't seen it for a while, but how it was for him and only him. Or rather, that's how he wanted it to be. A few seconds of silence came over them before Orihime decided to speak.

"Ehee, um… Sorry for disturbing you!" Was the first thing she said. She hoped that she didn't disturb whatever Ishida-kun was doing. "Woah, that's a very big pile of paperwork! Do you always deal with this much everyday!?" Her warm brown eyes stared widely at the stacks of documents before her. She half-regretted her disturbance.

"Yes. It's part of my duty as student council president, unfortunately." He replied with a scorn in his voice. "I'm almost done, so I won't be long." He signaled his hand toward a handful of documents. "So what brings you here, Inoue-san? I thought you had a part-time job after class." He pushed his glasses in his usual manner, his eyes now fixed on the documents.

"It's my day-off today. I did want to go to work though, but Manager-san insisted that I should take a break. So I decided to come to you! I thought you might be bored and lonely, working late by yourself." Orihime placed her hands behind her back as she looked around the room, taking note of the details.  
You came for me…? He wanted to ask. Instead, he just stared at her with a bewildered look in his face. Inoue looked back, confused with his confused look. "What is it?"

**_Don't, Uryu. You can't._**

"You didn't have to come. I'm used to all of this anyway." He sounded cold towards her, as if he's trying to shoo her off. Orihime caught the tone in his voice. "I'm sorry. I guess I shouldn't have come." She said apologetically, trying to laugh her inner sadness off.

Well, if she didn't come in, he could have finished by now. He'd be heading home & would be able to rest from that stressful day. But deep inside, he was happy. He quickly regretted his actions.

"No, it's… I'm glad you came. Sorry, I'm just… stressed I think." He rubbed his neck and looked apologetic.

**_You're hopeless._**

Orihime felt relieved. It killed her whenever Ishida acts all cold and distant towards her, or to anyone. Yet she understood. She used to be like that, before she met Tatsuki. It's a defense mechanism. With the world against you, with no one by your side, to prevent from getting hurt, the walls had to be made. She thought Ishida had already broken his walls. She had. But it was part of Ishida's character. He kept things to himself. He's not as open and outgoing as her. But in time, he'll break out, she thought. She looked forward to that.  
"Can I help?" She offered, bending over and facing the busy president directly as he read through one of the memos.

"You don't have to." He looked at her.

"Please? I want to help!" Orihime protested as she stood up and started to pick up one of the piles of paper on the desk. "I can help with the organizing." She beamed. Before Uryu could let out a word, Orihime lost her balance, accidentally knocked over the rest of the pile. He quickly pushed himself backwards, but the documents still caught him. The heavy stacks and the impact caused him to topple over, chair and all.

It was a mess. Ishida struggled to at least get to a sitting position. The documents only left a part of his chest upwards, his hands, and his legs uncovered. Paper is light, but when there is tons of it, the weight is crushing. But he wasn't concerned about that. Not a bit. It doesn't matter if the re-organizing will take him all night. Nor if he'll be locked within school premises. He could easily climb out. He didn't even think of anything else. Except her.

"Inoue-san! Inoue-san, are you alright?" Uryu called out, hoping she would reply. He forced himself out of the heap, worried and almost panicking for Orihime. He'd hate himself if anything happened to Inoue-san, and he was just a few inches away from her. All he could see were locks of her hair; the rest of her body was blocked from his sight by the pile of paper. He thought he heard her say something, but he might have imagined that. He couldn't sense her move. He's nearly frantic.

"Inoue-san!" Finally out. He quickly went to her, pushed the paper above her away in sweep. He felt relieved to find her breathing. _It's not like she could die because of this, you idiot._ He mentally slapped himself. She was clutching her head, and her body curled up against the wall. It seemed she crashed herself to the wall. He sighed, kneeling on one knee.

"Are you alright?" With genuine concern in his voice, he caressed her head, trying to find where she hit her head. He blushed after realizing what he was doing and withdrew his hand, looking away.

_**No matter how much you try to disregard your feelings…**_

"I-I'm really sorry…" Orihime slowly sat up, tears threatening to fall. She stroked her head and cringed when she touched the hurt part. She stared at her feet as she pulled her legs towards her chest. Ishida had just done a visual check on her. She only hit her head, he mentally noted. She might have hurt her back or hip though. He should bring her to the clinic.

She looked guilty, probably blaming herself again. He hated it when she does that. Seriously, she shouldn't blame herself for ever bad thing that happens around her! He felt guilty when he thought it was an adorable thing about her. The sun was barely hanging on the horizon. The rays made her watery eyes shine like pearls, and gave more color to her already auburn hair. He really shouldn't be thinking of those right now. Still in a curled position, Orihime reached out a hand and started to pick up the mess she created. Uryu placed his hand on hers, stopping her.

"We'll deal with it later. We should take care of that first." His eyes pointed at her head.

"No, I'm just fine! I just bumped it on the wall, but it doesn't really hur- OUCH!" She yelped as he placed his hand on the bumped part.

"Doesn't hurt I see." He said sarcastically. In one swift movement, he slipped his arms to her back and legs and carried her in a way a husband would carry his new wife.

**_You still have feelings for Inoue-san._**

"W-w-w-wait Ishida-kun! You don't have to carry me! Especially not like this-!" She blushed wildly, flailing her arms and legs in an attempt to break free from his grasp. "I can walk perfectly on my-"

"We can't be sure. That bump could be a lot worse than it seems. If you stood up and got dizzy, or worse, fainted, it would cause more problems for me, don't you think?" He interrupted, a dramatic, know-it-all tone present in his voice, giving her a somewhat threatening glare that says don't do any more foolishness. After a pause, she smiled.

"Roger that, Mr. President." She childishly saluted and let him carry her to the infirmary.

"Ow, ow! It huuurts!" Orihime clenched her fists on her skirt & shut her eyes tight, doing her best to endure the pain. She felt woozy and thought she'd black out any moment. The bump was definitely worse than she thought. Maybe she hit the edge of the table before the wall? It was possible. She felt chills down her spine as some streaks of ice-cold water slid down her neck from the ice bag.

"Just bear it for a while. Don't take it off until I tell you to." Ishida instructed. He took her hand and let it hold on the ice bag in his place.  
You don't have to do this.

He sighed and stared at Orihime. She began to hum a little tune to herself. This was the woman he loved for three years. They were strangers; members of the same club, classmates, both top notch students, but that's it. They weren't exactly friends. He didn't let anyone get close to him. He preferred to be alone. Then the events around the shinigami happened. They both ended up helping Kurosaki Ichigo rescue Kuchiki Rukia, they teamed up, helping each other, protecting each other's backs, and learned about each other. He truly enjoyed the times he got to spend with her, even though she had to hear her praise for the man he considered a rival.

**_Stop it Uryu. You'll only hurt yourself again._**

"It… doesn't hurt anymore." Orihime had finished the song she was humming. She placed one hand on her side, the other still holding on the icebag. She swung her legs to and fro that dangled from one of the beds that she sat on as she stared blankly on the clinic floor.

**_She never looked at you that way. She never will._**

"Inoue-san?" Orihime looked up and saw that he just sat down beside her.  
"Mhm?" She turned her head to meet his eyes; both of them staring at each other for a moment.

"I…" He disrupted her thoughts and took his eyes off her and stared at the door. "I'll get back to work. You stay here and get some rest. I'll come back for you and walk you home when I'm done." And with that, he stood up, fixed his glasses and turned toward the door.

**_It will always be him._**

That wasn't quite right. Orihime felt he had something to say. Something deep. She saw it in his eyes. And she felt something. She can't quite put a finger on it… Somehow it had something to do with those eyes. It felt like she was drowning. And she liked it.

**_Even back then, even when you were willing to die for her, it was still him._**

"Wait Ishida-kun." She stood up too hastily to take hold of his arm, forgetting what he said about dizziness and all. All of the sudden, she's seeing three Uryus.

"Inoue-san!" He called her for the fifth time, not that he was counting. He turned and pulled her towards him to stop her from falling. You could say that he hugged her. "Didn't I warn you a while ago?" He scolded, keeping her in a tight grip, a bit frustrated and concerned. The icebag slipped off her head and fell on a floor with a quiet thump. Uryu felt his cheeks go red with what he did, but he stayed that way, shutting his eyes and quietly breathed in the scent of her ginger hair. He felt her head lean on his chest as he adjusts his arms firmly to secure her. He could feel her warm breath as she exhaled. He could sense his consciousness kicking in, telling him to let go, but his body defied it and he went with his sentiments.

**_No, this is wrong…_**

"S-sorry, again. I keep saying 'sorry' lately." Orihime whispered and giggled, her voice muffled under his arms. She gave a silly laugh and decided to stay that way, in his arms, until her head clears up. They were so close that they could hear each other breathe. Orihime could hear his heartbeat. It confused her. It was fast. Really fast. She shifted her head so she could hear it better. Uryu became even redder than before (if that was possible) and his heartbeat went faster. She gently pushed herself away to look at his face, but to her surprise, Uryu just pulled her closer, tightening his grip on her. Her cheek went against his chest. She was definitely confused now.

"Uh, Ishida-ku-"

"I thought I could distract myself by drowning myself in responsibilities. It didn't work."

_W-What?_ Orihime couldn't quite grasp what Uryu meant, or why he was saying those to her. He had a different reason for joining the Student Council? It was to distract himself... but from what? She looked over his shoulder and glanced at the window, just as the sun disappeared from sight. The half moon shone brightly along with the street lights.

"I don't get it… What do you mean, Ishida-kun?" Her eyebrows met and her mouth was slightly open as she moved her eyes to look at him.

"Let me explain." It didn't take a split-second when a warm sensation came to her mouth. Uryu gently placed his lips on Orihime's. They both felt their guts stir and their hearts go mad. Uryu expected her to push him back, but she gave in (much to his surprise), returning the sentiment, kissing him back. It felt right. It felt right for Orihime. Her eyes fluttered and shut tight. His lips had this unexplainable taste that made her want more. Or maybe that's how it really feels like when you're kissing. Uryu moved his hand from her back, caressing her neck, up to her cheek, and pulled her closer. Orihime started to wrap her arms around him, accepting the affection he presented to her. The tender moment between them went on, giving in and returning every stroke the lips brushed on each other. They were clumsy- first time kissing – and it didn't take long before they ran out of air. They paused for a half-second to catch their breaths but quickly went back to their intimate moment. They moved in, away from the door, one step at a time until Orihime was leaning on the wall. He pulled away and gazed upon her. She could sense that he was going to tell her something really important.

"I love you…"

There, Uryu said it in a whisper. He meant it. He managed to tell her these three words he had been yearning to tell her for a long time. He doesn't care if he gets hurt again, or if Inoue-san won't accept his feelings. He loves her, and he wanted her to know. He always wanted to. Through actions, he did. She just didn't seem to get it. Those words were his last feat.

"I…"

He braced himself for any hurtful confession that would come out of her mouth. He's ready for it. It's better this way, rather than regretting for the rest of his life for not telling her.

"I don't..."

He knew it. She doesn't love him. She still loves that loud foolish bas-

"I don't love Kurosaki-kun anymore."

…

_What did she say?_

"Eh?" He clearly had a surprised look on him. That was the least he'd expect for her to say. _Am I dreaming? Hallucinating? Did I bump my head too? Can someone punch me right now?_

"I don't love Kurosaki-kun anymore, and now I know why."

He froze, standing and looking straight at Inoue, dumbstruck, his mouth gapping. She looked back at him with nearly the same reaction, puzzled by his expression.

"Ishida-kun?" Her eyebrows scrunched.

"D-Did you just say…?!" He felt like the lump in his throat stuck with his strained scream. He can't tell if he was happy or confused or surprised or all of that but he surely felt something.

"Ishida-kun, you sound like you wouldn't believe me." She pouted as she leaned in closer, looking up with the most sincere eyes Uryu has ever seen.

"I love you, Ishida Uryu-kun."

**_Everything paid off._**

A smile came across Uryu's face. He could kiss her that very moment, but he strained himself. Hearing those three words plus his name coming from her mouth felt good. Really good.

"Ah, Ishida-kun! It's dark already!" Orihime looked out the window. "And you haven't finished your paperwork!" Streaks of moonlight and streetlights were the only source of illumination in the room. Uryu checked his watch, 6:04 PM.  
"We're probably closed in too." That climbing out idea suddenly sounded good. He doesn't mind though, getting closed in and all.

"I'm very sorry Ishida-kun! I caused all of this!" Orihime looked really worried. She stared at her feet and kept on apologizing. Unconsciously, Uryu lightly ran his fingers through her hair in hope to comfort her. Realizing his bold feat, he blushed and took back his hand. He cleared his throat as he adjusted his glasses.

"I-I'll organize my work first then I'll walk you home. Is that okay?" His hand grabbed hold of her hand, a sincere look in his eyes.

"I'm really sorry for troubling you." Orihime gripped his hand tighter. Uryu leaned in and kissed her forehead.

"Doesn't matter."

Orihime bit her lip and bowed her head, hoping she could hide her blush. For once, she doesn't want to say anything at all. She simply wrapped her arms around him and leaned her now aching head on his chest. They stayed that way for a while.

"Get some rest, and I'll come back for you."

**A/N: Aaaaah, I'm so embarrassed. I went frantic over my own writing! Aaaaaah, I don't think I'm good at mushy, kissy, lovey-dovey scenes.  
Thank you for reading/re-reading (if you cared enough, haha)! Honestly, I cringed at every angsty and mushy point here and I had to run to my puppies for comfort. (Puppy therapy~) I'm still not sure with the ending. I thought I'd be able to make one up to conclude this adequately. Hopefully I get to write more fan fics with a lighter disposition. Wish me luck, and drop a comment or something! I'm no writer, so critiques will definitely help. Thank you!**


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